Oh boy! The history of attempts to build First Nations-specific art and cultural institutions in Australia is such a sad one. There was so much faith in Tarrkarri for Adelaide – the SA Museum’s amazing Indigenous collection, local Kaurna approval, a Liberal government steaming full-ahead, a design…..and then the amazing discovery that the latter would cost double the budget! The current Labor government promised its thoughts by last December – but we’ve heard nothing.
Sydney never got anywhere like that far, but Aboriginal culture has failed to get its own institution, ending up tucked into the Museum of Sydney. In Canberra, a much-touted new home for AIATSIS in the Parliamentary Triangle has disappeared into the Ministry for Indigenous Australians along with any sense of positivity post-Referendum. And in 2020, the Western Australian Government announced it would spend $2 million planning for an Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Perth to fill what the State’s Treasurer described as a “great cultural missing link” in Australia. Have we heard anything since?
And now in the NT, the most advanced attempt once known as the National Aboriginal Art Gallery – admittedly only a gallery for art, not a museum of culture – has been put on hold by the new Country Liberal Party government. Not only was there $150m from Federal and Territory sources, there was a site, a design, staff and a builder appointed. But new NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has announced that she’ll save the much-debated Anzac Oval site on her very first visit to Alice Springs since being elected last month. Demolition works at the oval have been paused though the government says it still wants the project to go ahead without “excessive delays. The CLP has always been committed to this iconic project and we want to do this right,” Ms Finocchiaro claimed.
The project was first announced in 2017 by a Labor government, but the town council didn’t want to lose the town’s ‘home of rugby’, Traditional Owners wanted it south of the Gap so that ancient ceremonial sites wouldn’t be affected, and an advisory committee recommended the existing Desert Park on the edge of town. The council ultimately ended its legal battle, and the oval, which was owned by them, was forcibly acquired last year by the NT government for $3.66 million.
A week later, the NT’s Indigenous Business Network say they hold grave concerns about the new government’s decision to pause and revisit the site of what is now called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Art Islander Gallery of Australia. “The ATSIAGA project holds significant national importance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the tourism sector in the Territory”, NTIBN Chairperson, Naomi Anstess said. “This project, which is the largest capital spend in the township by the NT Government in a generation, was to be a driver of tourism revitalisation and economic development in the region,” she explained. “Local business, Sitzler Pty Ltd, has been left holding the can full of promises”.
Anstess also labelled it ridiculous to think this was a “small” decision when it would cost millions and take up to 24 months to reinvigorate. “We understand that the design of this project on this site has cost at least $32.5M, with Sitzler investing more than $2.5M in project costs to date,” she said. “We are too far down the track and have expended too much of Territory taxpayer monies to go backwards now”.
In her dreams Ms Finocchiaro speculated that it might be possible to retain the popular sports oval and build the gallery at the same site. “We might be able to redesign and actually have them both at that beautiful location,” she said.
Speaking to ABC, local TO Doris Stuart said it was disappointing that there was any consideration for the galley to still be built on the current site. “It’s an important women’s site where corroborees and ceremonies were kept”.
